JEWELRY IS A story about love, romance, status and recognition. We have to stop selling the “things” and focus instead on telling a better story.
Outside of a handful of brands or truly remarkable pieces, we all are selling the same thing. If we all sell gold, platinum, diamonds and gemstones, what’s the difference between you and your main competitor in town? It’s you. More specifically, it’s the story you tell about your store and your product.
Are you a first-generation jeweler? Talk about your journey that led you to jewelry. If you’re a second, third, or even fourth-generation jeweler, talk about the heritage and history behind your store. Customers want to know that your parents or grandparents started this business and you’re carrying on their legacy. Jared isn’t a person, and the Zale family hasn’t been part of the business for decades. The real charmer is the ability to introduce your store owner. Even if every customer can’t meet a member of the family, they still need to know that the store is family owned.
What makes your store different? What’s your answer when a customer asks, “Why your store?” More importantly, why are you waiting until they ask that question to highlight what makes you special?
Are you cheaper? Cheaper isn’t a good story. Cheaper doesn’t attract the type of clients that make a business sustainable. Cheaper only wins a customer until it’s cheaper down the street. Cheaper is the lazy way out, but we’ll talk more about that another time.
If your differentiator isn’t price, it has to be quality or service. If your quality isn’t worth talking about, why are you selling it? A killer phrase would be something like: “The beautiful thing about our store is that we never sacrifice on quality. It gives you the peace of mind that anything you choose to invest in will be something she can enjoy forever and be proud of. After all, that’s the whole point, isn’t it?”
If service is what distinguishes you from your competitors, what is it about your service that makes you different? “We offer a free lifetime warranty on all of our engagement rings.” I have news for you: That isn’t remarkable anymore, at least with engagement rings. A lifetime warranty by itself isn’t a good story or worth remembering. The key is how you talk about it.
You have to take covering your jewelry personally. Something I tell every engagement client is the idea that “just because you’re the one buying it, and she’s the one wearing it, it’s still our ring and we’re still responsible for it. I take my responsibility as your jeweler seriously, so you know that any ring you get from us, we’ll be here for you if you need it serviced.”
We take for granted the things we know about our stores and about this industry. We assume that just because we love our store, how could customers not help but feel the same? We love our stores because we know the story, but a story is only captivating if others know it, too.